be cruel to be kind
be cruel to be kind verb: to act cruelly in order to achieve a positive outcome in the future.
Verb
be cruel to be kind (third-person singular simple present is cruel to be kind, present participle being cruel to be kind, simple past was cruel to be kind, past participle been cruel to be kind)
- To act cruelly in order to achieve a positive outcome in the future.
- I muſt be cruell only to be kinde, / This bad beginnes, and worſe remaines behind.c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (Second Quarto), London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] L[ing] […], published 1604...
- It may perhaps be said of her, “She must be cruel to be kind.” In the discovery of anæsthesia and of various anæsthetics she may have inflicted some inconvenience, even actual pain, on a limited number of the inferior creation; but here is her return, even to inferior animals.1884, James G. Wakley, editor, The Lancet, volume 127, page 72
Examples of be cruel to be kind in a sentence
- She must be cruel to be kind.–a little cruel to be very kind.1909, Caleb Saleeby, Parenthood and Race Culture: An Outline of Eugenics, page 44:
- Many farm practices may seem to the outsider to be cruel, but you have to be cruel to be kind.1960 Sep., Thomas Templeton Murray, “Animals Protection Bill”, in parliamentary debates (House of Representatives), volume 324, page 2193:
- Altho' I'm against cruelty to Animal life I must admit that sometimes, you have got to be cruel to be kind.1976, M. M. Ahmed, Teenager, volume 7:
Forms of be cruel to be kind
| third-person singular present | is cruel to be kind |
|---|---|
| present participle | being cruel to be kind |
| past | was cruel to be kind |
| past participle | been cruel to be kind |
Origin of be cruel to be kind
From William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 4: "I must be cruel, only to be kind: / Thus bad begins and worse remains behind."
Questions about be cruel to be kind
- What does be cruel to be kind mean?
- Be cruel to be kind means to act cruelly in order to achieve a positive outcome in the future.
- How do you use be cruel to be kind in a sentence?
- She must be cruel to be kind.–a little cruel to be very kind.
- What part of speech is be cruel to be kind?
- Be cruel to be kind is a verb.
- What is the past tense of be cruel to be kind?
- The past tense of be cruel to be kind is was cruel to be kind.
Words near be cruel to be kind in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: be cruel to be kind (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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